Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 124 - Unending Army

"Damn, there's no end to them!"

Marilyn's sword rose and fell countless times, yet her enemies continued to swarm around her, filling the gaps her blade had opened. Similarly, Medrauta was suffering from the same problem: despite being empowered by Viviane's Crest, the silver-haired knight wasn't exactly making much headway either. The seemingly unending wave of hostile soldiers perplexed not only Medrauta, but seasoned veterans like Marilyn and her knights as well. Never before had they witnessed a single formation with so many troops even when they fought against the massive armies of Kaslavna.

"It almost doesn't feel like we're fighting against..." Medrauta's voice trailed off, her eyes widening as she stared at the corpse of the man she'd just slain.

There was nothing gruesome about the sight before her, but it still stunned her to no end. In fact, the knight even allowed the tip of her sword to drop in shock, opening herself up to an attack that skated off the surface of her glowing silver armor. The force jolted her back into action, causing her to dispatch the soldier who'd just attacked her with a quick jab of her blade.

"...They're homunculi. Half of these men are homunculi!" Marilyn shouted. "I never thought I'd see one again, but here they are in droves! Damn!"

Sure enough, the bodies that she and Medrauta had just laid waste to dissolved into a mixture of clay and crimson liquid that seeped into the earth. A more detailed inspection revealed human soldiers mixed into the fray, but it appeared as though the center mass of Bastiche's army primarily consisted of homunculi. That alone explained how he had so many troops to throw at the baron's army during their march to the castle.

Not only were homunculi extremely expensive to create, but doing so required knowledge of dark magic and an exorbitant amount of unknown materials. As artificial lifeforms that possessed no souls, their mere existence was considered an affront to Aluvsha's very divinity; however, it wasn't this that angered Marilyn and the knights who fought by her side so greatly.

He sacrificed men and women in battle just to preserve his fucking army of homunculi!? Marilyn grit her teeth in anger, riding the wave of rage that rushed through her body and drawing strength from it as she annihilated an enormous group of soldiers clustered around her, striking with such zeal and ferocity that not even the seemingly infinite flood of homunculus troops could instantly fill the the void she had created in their formation. Indeed, the very reason behind the anger that unshackled her newfound strength was not the creation nor existence of these homunculi, but rather the fact that Bastiche had chosen to field flesh-and-blood soldiers against them during the march.

He had thrown away the lives of his people all for the sake of preserving the impressive numbers of his homunculus garrison. People who had families and friends, hopes and dreams. People who were merely seeking to fulfill their duties and go home at the end of the day. The very thought drove Marilyn to madness, and she allowed the flow of combat to fully consume her. Now that she knew her blade cut not flesh but clay, there remained not even a single morsel of remorse in her body.

However, it wasn't just the baron's forces who were surprised by this development. Thanks to the dark magic that glamoured their appearance, it was practically impossible to tell the difference between a human and a homunculus unless one was familiar with the latter or until they became injured. The knights and soldiers who once fought faithfully for the acting duke now exchanged glances that bore a mixture of surprise, horror, and confusion.

Much like Sir Michael of Helfried fief, the knights of Revelo fief had either witnessed Bastiche's heroic confrontation with the witch or heard stories of the encounter. Their faith in the acting duke had been stronger than ever, and they saw Baron Dietrich as nothing more than an upstart, but with this new development, they had no choice but to question Bastiche's legitimacy and his true allegiance.